There are strong indications that the All Progressives Congress(APC) is making serious efforts to score a major victory in the South East Zone in 2027.
Since the return of democracy in 1999, the APC, which emerged from the amalgamation of different political parties, has not performed well in the zone. Previously, the South East Zone was dominated by the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), which now controls only Enugu State. The APC is in control of Ebonyi and Imo states currently while Anambra and Abia states are under the All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA) and the Labour Party(LP) respectively.
Since 2015, when the APC emerged as a party, its performance at Presidential elections has been abysmal. While former President Mohammadu Buhari failed to win significant votes in both 2015 and 2019, President Bola Tinubu scored less than five per cent of the votes cast in the zone in 2023.
Rather, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party(LP), Mr. Peter Obi, took over 89 per cent of the votes cast then.
But as the 2027 general elections approaches with the possibility of Tinubu being in the race, there are moves to ensure that the party did not fail again in the zone.
Leading figures of the APC in the Zone, such as Governor Hope Uzodinma; Minister of Works, David Umahi and the Senator representing Abia North Senatorial district, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, are currently mobilizing the zone towards a better result for the ruling party.
President Bola Tinubu himself is not taking the battle lightly. An indication to this was his one – day official visit to Enugu State, last week, where he inaugurated projects constructed by Governor Peter Mbah, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor.
Kalu for instance has been using his Christmas holidays to meet up with his former appointees, political heavyweights in Abia and even the state Governor, Dr. Alex Otti. While the meetings look like ordinary Christmas meet and greet, Sunday Telegraph gathered that winning Abia for the APC was a major discussion at different meetings chaired by Kalu.
Few days ago, a prominent businessman and PDP Chieftain, Chief Kelvin Jombo, defected to APC at Abiriba, Abia State at the instance of Kalu. Thousands of people followed him.
In Anambra, APC is also prepping to take the state from APGA in 2026, when the state Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, would be seeking reelection.
Enugu and Abia which are ruled by PDP and Labour Party have Governors Mbah and Alex Otti, who are friends of President Bola Tinubu.
By 2027, they may still remain in their party but are expected to work for Tinubu then.
It was gathered that Uzodimma remains the darling of Tinubu and is one of the people, “who are being positioned and looking like the drivers of the APC’s incursion into the South East.
“The Tinubu soldiers including the Minister of Works, Wike, the current governor of Imo State, are in charge of that project. They believe that in 2027, APC would do well. That is what they have started,” a Source added.
Opposition react
However, the opposition parties in the South East said they are unfazed by Tinubu’s visit and seeming incursions to the region.
The Chairman of Labour Party (LP) in Enugu State, Casmir Agbo said: “I don’t see any threat in the visit. What he has come for is a state visit which is done by presidents of countries. It’s a kind of tradition in Nigeria, whether you are in a ruling party or not, Presidents visit any state at any point in time.
“I don’t see anything political about that. I think politics has gone. It is now administration and the president’s visit didn’t vitiate the fact that the state is not in line with the national party, though they can synergize for the development of the region.
“I see it as a welcome development. I don’t attribute that to political gerrymandering.
“The new-found love as you said, for me is the normal thing. There is no cause for alarm.”
He finds a soul mate in his Imo State counterpart, Lancelot Obiaku, who said that such plans to capture the entire South-East by APC will fail as there is no factual basis to suggest such political attainment.
Obiaku said: “President Tinubu’s Government has shown little or no commitment to its mandate, and the President has harshly shut the South East region out of his government.
“Despite South East already having two APC Governors at the time Tinubu became President, he didn’t find anyone from the region fit to be one of the nation’s security chiefs or head any key agency/corporation. There is also no presence of the Tinubu government in the entire South East in terms of the distribution of projects. As such, there is no cause for alarm as the people of the Southeast are almost soul-tied to the PDP.”
Obiaku added: “On the broader scale, Tinubu cannot make Nigeria a one-party State with a sunk economy, alarmingly high cost of living, extreme poverty, insecurity, monumental corruption, and bullying of dissenting voices.
“The President and his associates should be ashamed that their government, which came to power through the worst election in the nation’s history, still sees subjugation, conquest, and totalitarianism as the means to assuming dominance. It is dead on arrival.”
Also weighing- in, the National Publicity Secretary of APGA, Mazi Ejimofor Opara and former Chairman, Anambra State PDP Ndubuisi Newbu said the agenda was dead on arrival.
Opara said: “We are aware that the APC is the party at the centre. No doubt about that but here in Anambra State, our party has done tremendously well for any political party to unseat us here in Anambra State.
“In the history of governance in Anambra State, there is no governor that has done what Mr Governor, Prof Charles Soludo, has done in terms of infrastructural development and human Capital building as well as the management of the Civil Service and that is the government of APGA ”
“So, to say that the APC would take over Anambra State in the next election is just a mere wishful thought that had no structures to work with.”
Chief Ndubuisi Nwobu described the move as laughable, adding that what he called the abysmal performance of the APC across the country was an indication that they cannot take over Anambra State.
Labour Party Gubernatorial aspirant in Anambra State, Engr Bath Nwibe contended: “It is from the performance of the APC at the National level that would determine their strength and capacity to take over Anambra State.
“We do not know the template for the taking over of the system when Nigerians are crying over the harsh economic situation in the country and one wonders how they intend to achieve this,” he said.
Visit, significant, shows Tinubu’s maturity -Rahman
Tunde Rahman, a Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media Matters, however said that the President’s visit was significant in different ways. He said despite the lack of votes for the president, he showed maturity by going to Enugu. Rahman added that the president showed inclusiveness and hoped for a better relationship with the region.
“With the Enugu visit and the importance he attached to the invitation by PDP Governor Mbah, President Tinubu demonstrated political maturity and his commitment to supporting developmental strides from any part of the country and by any governor or stakeholder. The visit was a bold testament to his nonpartisan inclination and willingness to put the country first. He was full of commendation for Governor Mbah for demonstrating “an irrevocable commitment to human development.”
He added: “In the same vein, sighting Abia State Governor Alex Otti at the Enugu event, President Tinubu said: “I don’t care which party you come from; you are my friend. Alex Otti of Abia State is also doing very well. It is not about the differences in languages and place of birth.”
He concluded: “Development and governance may have been the overarching themes of the visit. Still, analysts reckon that given all that transpired during the visit, a new chapter in the relationship between President Tinubu and the South East geopolitical zone may have been unwittingly opened. This rapprochement, they observe, may signpost other important things to come for President Tinubu from the zone, particularly going into the next election in 2027.”
